How to do Laundry on the Camino de Santiago

When hiking the Camino de Santiago, it’s best to bring only two hiking outfits. Some people even get away with as little as one! That begs the question, how do you do laundry on the Camino??

After spending 33 days hiking almost 500 miles along the Camino Francés, here’s the process I recommend. It’s the same process that I personally used for doing laundry on the Camino each day.

Steps for Doing Laundry on the Camino

Step 1. Bring your clothes into the shower.

Now you’re not going to wash your clothes in the shower—you need to be fast in the shower as many others will typically be waiting. Just take your clothes off and put them in a dry bag. I used this 5L dry bag, and it was perfect for washing my one hiking outfit for that day.

Fill the bag up with warm water and squirt some shampoo in. Yes, shampoo! It works really well and that way you don’t have to carry laundry detergent with you and can keep your pack a little lighter.

Roll up and close the dry bag and then take the rest of your shower.

Step 2. Hand wash your clothes in the bag.

There are usually dedicated hand washing stations in every albergue for doing laundry on the Camino. Bring your dry bag out with your clothes and swirl them around in the bag for a little while.

Many of the hand washing sinks also have ribbed edges, so you can use that for a little extra force in rubbing dirt off your clothes if needed.

Step 3. Rinse your clothes in the sink.

Next, dump the water out of your dry bag, and thoroughly rinse your clothes in the sink.

Step 4. Hang up your clothes outside to dry.

Albergues will also have a dedicated area to hang your clothes, usually outside but not always. Try to find the sunniest spot you can for hanging your clothes on the line.

If the albergue only has an indoor area to hang clothes, see if there is a fan you can turn on to help blow air onto them. You probably won’t run into this too much, but you might encounter it once or twice.

Some albergues will have clothes pins for laundry on the Camino, but I wouldn’t count on it. Bring your own just to be safe.

As you hang your clothes, I would wring them out to ensure as much water gets out as possible. After you have everything hung up, I recommend wringing them out one more time. If you check on your clothes later, perhaps before dinner, feel free to give them another squeeze then as that will help.

Step 5. Bring your clothes inside before going to bed.

Bring your clothes inside even if they aren’t dry. As warm as it can be on the Camino in summer, nights can sometimes get colder and may have some overnight moisture.

Your clothes will dry better inside of the albergue. With all the pilgrims inside, the body heat typically warms the room and will help them dry overnight.

You can usually hang them over the sides of your bed. I also recommend bringing a small amount of paracord if needed to help hang them up. I brought some with me and used it once when the albergue beds didn’t have a good place to hang the clothes.

Step 6. If your clothes are still wet in the morning, safety pin them to your pack.

Sometimes your clothes just don’t dry overnight, especially if the day prior wasn’t particularly sunny when they were sitting out. That’s ok!

Pin them to the outside of your pack. They should finish drying in the heat of the day. Just be careful not to get them too dirty when you set your pack down.

I know it may feel awkward pinning your sports bra to your pack for everyone to see, but everyone does it.

Are there washing machines I can use to do laundry on the Camino?

Absolutely! I wouldn’t count on machines being an option at every albergue on the Camino, but most albergues will have some sort of washing machine.

You can usually pay a few euros to do your laundry yourself or pay the albergue around 8 euros to do it for you. I recommend getting together with other pilgrims to split the cost.

At least for me, hand washing my clothes only goes so far, so I personally liked to wash mine in a machine at least once a week for a more thorough wash. I never hand washed my sleeping bag liner or towel as they were too big, so it was nice to throw those into the machine too.

Will I have to do laundry on the Camino every day?

Most pilgrims will do laundry on the Camino every day. You want to pack as light as possible, so usually that means only having one or two hiking outfits with you, which forces you to do laundry frequently.

I personally had two hiking outfits and a dress I could wear in town to lounge around. That gave me a little more flexibility with laundry, but it was easier to just wash my items once per day.

When should I do laundry on the Camino each day?

You want to give your clothes as much time as possible to dry each day. It can take as long as 5 hours or more for them to fully dry. That’s why I recommend showering and doing laundry immediately when you get to the albergue so you can give your clothes as much time as possible to dry.

If it starts to get later in the day, you may want to consider using a dryer if available instead of trying to hang dry them outside.

What if it starts raining when my clothes are outside drying?

This is bound to happen at some point on your Camino. You’ll of course want to bring your clothes inside and try to hang them up inside. Try to let your friends and others around you know so they can bring their clothes in too.

Your clothes won’t dry as well inside, so try to keep an eye on the weather. If it stops raining, move your laundry back outside.

For days like this, you may have to count on hanging more of your clothes on your pack the next day to dry while you’re hiking.

Will certain clothes be easier to wash?

I would say the hardest part of doing laundry on the Camino is getting your clothes to dry. Having more quick drying athletic-type fabrics helps.

I personally wore athletic shorts from Athleta, and those usually dried fairly quickly as did my hiking shirts. For me, whenever something didn’t dry fully, it was usually my sports bras and hiking socks that were the biggest problem.

Also think about bringing clothes you may not care about as much. I made the mistake of bringing a white Lululemon sports bra and a pair of mint green shorts.

Over time on the Camino, the sports bra became a bit more of an off white color and the vibrant green color of my shorts seemed to fade. The rest of my clothes were fine, but this is something to consider as you think about what to bring.

Is it safe to leave my clothes unattended on the line to dry?

Yes. Everybody does this, and your clothes should be fine to leave out to dry that day. I would just make sure to bring them in before nighttime, but that’s mostly because they will dry more easily inside!

Generally, the Camino is very safe, and you should mostly just be mindful of keeping your valuables (passport, phone, wallet) close to you at all times.

There you have it! That’s my recommended process and tips for doing laundry on the Camino. Good luck to you as you prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime journey!